Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education or FIRE is a group which claims to "defend and sustain individual rights at America's increasingly repressive and partisan colleges and universities."[1][2] It is an advocate on such issues as "free speech" codes, religious liberty, due process for students, allocation of funding for student organizations, and defense against ideological indoctrination. The organization was founded in 1999 by a University of Pennsylvania professor, Alan Charles Kors. FIRE is a major proponent of the intellectual diversity movement which aims to dismantle the so-called liberal bias in higher academia.

News and Controversy

Defense of Marquette Professor

FIRE advocated for and subsequently applauded a decision of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court siding with a Marquette professor, John McAdams who "criticized a graduate student by name on his personal blog over how she handled a classroom discussion that turned to gay marriage."[3] FIRE argued that "Marquette was wrong to fire John McAdams simply for criticizing a graduate student instructor who unilaterally decided that a matter of political interest was no longer up for debate by students."

Marquette University disagreed, stating that “A tenured professor put a graduate student’s name and contact information on the internet so that people could go after her...That’s not academic freedom, that’s cyberbullying."[3]

Association with “Right-Wing” "Free Speech Bills"

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) launched a "Free Speech on Campus" Campaign to oppose Free Speech Bills, which they say are an effort from conservative state lawmakers to "suppress dissent" on college campuses." Furthermore, AAUP argues that the bills are backed by the right-wing Goldwater Institute.[4]

According to Campus Reform, a project of the Leadership Institute, FIRE disagrees in part with AAUP and supports the Free Speech Bills.[5]

FIRE describes its advocacy on this issue as a "multi-year Stand Up For Free Speech Litigation Project, an expansive initiative to eliminate speech codes at public universities and colleges," which it argues invites "widespread abuse."[6]

Ties to the Bradley Foundation

The Bradley Files reveal that FIRE was founded with Bradley cash in 1999,

"With Bradley funding, FIRE was founded in 1999 by Bradley Prize winner Alan Charles Kors and Encounter author Harvey Silverglate to defend rights on campus to freedom of speech and association, legal equality, due process, and religious liberty. Its strategy is based on the insight that the mere threat of exposure or legal action is often sufficient to persuade universities to remedy rights violations. FIRE has successfully intervened in hundreds of disputes at nearly 200 institutions, mostly through negotiations but also through litigation when necessary."[7]

One "Bradley Prize" that Alan Charles Kors -- currently chairman emeritus of FIRE -- won was in 2008 for his "defense of free speech." It came with a $250,000 stipend.[8]

In 2014, FIRE received $15,000 for "sponsorship of the 15th Anniversary Gala." The Gala was "a dinner event celebrating (FIRE's) mission and drawing public attention to the intrusions upon conscience and enforcement of orthodoxies that are endemic in academia." [6] The

From 1999-2016, FIRE has received $1,490,000 from the Bradley Foundation for "general operations," "anniversary events," and "a special project."